Helping people maintain weight loss just as important as dropping the pounds: Study 0

While helping people lose weight is great, just as much emphasis should be put on programs to help them keep the weight off, British researchers say.

In a paper in the British Medical Journal, the researchers from Newcastle University and Fuse, a public health research centre, said the majority of obese and overweight people who lose weight eventually regain the weight.

But packing the pounds back on can be curbed using behavioural and pharmacological means, they said.

In a study, researchers said participants who received support after losing weight gained back less than those who did not have any support. This trend continued even two years after the weight loss.

"If we are going to improve public health then maintaining weight loss is one of the key issues that we need to solve. Our findings are encouraging as they demonstrate that we can slow down weight regain," researcher Falko Sniehotta said in a release.